Photograph of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pausing during testimony last week by Dennis Cook/AP After an ugly Monday in global financial markets while the U.S. markets were closed and Asian stock markets plunging today, the Federal Reserve lowered the interest rate by 0.75% in an "emergency move for the first time since 2001." From the Fed's press release:The Committee took this action in view of a weakening of the economic outlook and increasing......

Calling all Idiotarod enthusiasts and people who work in Midtown who might want a lunchtime spectacle. The Carts of Brooklyn Racing Association, aka COBRA, will be holding a press conference at 1PM today outside CBS's headquarters. The group, which is organizing this year's Idiotarod, will be protesting tonight's episode of CSI:NY and its "depiction of shopping cart racing," as the CSI spin-off has been using the Idiotarod name in marketing materials (in the show,......

The Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation hauled Mayor Bloomberg to New York State Supreme Court today for failing to reappoint or replace eight of eleven commissioners to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The commissioners’ terms have expired, which, the Committee alleges, violates the Administrative Code and the City Charter. The Writ of Mandamus seeks to force Mayor Bloomberg to reappoint or replace commissioners whose terms have lapsed. “Mayor Bloomberg has failed to honor is own......

As we speak, the City Council is meeting with the Department of Education about supplies in city schools, namely how teacher are buying them out of their own pockets. And teachers aren't just buying paper and pencils - they are buying toiletries. Which brings Gothamist to the title of this meeting: "Paper Towels, Soap, and Toilet Paper." What does it mean when the biggest school system in the country can't even keep soap and toilet......